Innocent Longing
by Tempest78
Summary: Naruto reminisces about how many times he’s witnessed Kagome’s kindness and big heart, while spying on her as she stands on the edge of a cliff. Kag/Naruto first time pairing!


**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or ****Inuyasha****, or any of their affiliated characters. They respectively belong to ****Masashi Kishimoto**** and Rumiko Takahashi. Full credit for these wonderful characters and worlds, belong to them! I am however using Naruto, and Kagome, for my own twisted enjoyment. The plot line of this story and all of its little twists however, I do take full credit for!**

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Naruto stood hidden behind the large trunk of the tree and watched amazed, his bright blue eyes transfixed as the powerful and beautiful priestess stood on the edge of the cliff, allowing the semi strong wind to blow her silky, midnight-colored hair around behind her.

He stared at her in fascination as the sun glinted off of her hair, making it shine a little brighter as he waved like a flag, revealing her porcelain like face. Her small nose and full pouty lips intrigued him.

Even though she looked like a delicate flower, he knew there was nothing weak about this girl. She was after all the only priestess in Konoha and the strength of her priestess powers took everyone, even Granny Tsunade by surprise.

She might look frail with that lithe slender, and curvy body, but she was not weak. Anyone dumb enough to call her weak got a real ass chewing from her too. Her temper also intrigued him. Though she was just as feisty tempered as Sakura, Kagome didn't punch the hell out of people, only slapped them.

And boy did those slaps hurt! He could tell you from experience just how much those slaps hurt, so could many other guys in Konoha who had made the mistake of calling her a 'weak girl', or worse spying on her while she bathed.

Along with her impressive powers and hot temper, she had a heart of gold. Smiling at that thought, he reminisced about what he'd seen earlier that day…

--

**Earlier:**

Konohamauru knelt by the graves of his grandfather and his uncle. The look on his face was one of overwhelming sadness. The air around the boy was charged with a heavy depression.

After all, he was now an orphan since his grandfather, the third Hokage, Sarutobi, and his uncle, Asuma had both passed away. He lived alone in his own apartment, but under the close eye of his sensei, Ebisu. But part of him felt abandoned by his family.

Kagome turned to walk by when she noticed the lone child looking so gloomy and walked over asking, "What's wrong?" as she knelt beside the child.

Konohamaru wiped the tears from his eyes and muttered, "Nothing," trying not to show any weakness in front of her.

Kagome's eyes fell to the graves and she guessed, "You must miss them, terribly, huh?" staring at the child with kindness in her eyes as she pulled him to her for a comforting hug.

Unable to hold back his pain and sorrow anymore, Konohamaru buried his head in her chest and cried.

He sobbed harder and held onto her. Konohamaru didn't like crying like this, especially in front of someone else, but today the pain and loneliness were just too much for his young heart to bear.

Despite having his two teammates and his sensei, he felt lost and alone in the world. The only family he still had left was his Uncle Asuma's unborn child, which was still inside of Kurenai's large belly.

He no longer had his grandfather's arms to hold him when he was lonely or sick. He no longer had his Uncle Asuma to help him with his more difficult training sessions. Even Naruto was absent from the village more often now thanks to his increasing missions.

She held him and rubbed his back soothing, "Shh, it's okay." Adding sadly, "I miss my family too."

He looked up at her with teary eyes and asked, "Really?" sniffling a bit.

She said, "Yes." Adding, "I just try to remind myself that I'm not alone." Smiling she said, "I've made a few friends since Bankotsu and I first arrived here."

She pat his back soothingly and reminded, "You're not alone either, Konohamaru. You have a whole village of people who worry about you."

He sniffed some more and whispered, "But it's not the same." tearing up again, as he pressed deeper into the comfort of her arms. Most people didn't hug him and he missed being held and comforted like this.

She sighed and said honestly, "No, it's not. But we should be happy just to know that some people do care about us."

She pulled him back to stare into his eyes and said, "Even though our families aren't here to hold us when we get lonely or sick, we still have our friends and your villagers to keep us from being completely alone." wiping the tears from his cheeks, with soft motherly hands.

He frowned and she asked, "Doesn't Naruto come and take care of you when you get a cold?"

He said, "Yeah, but he doesn't read to me like my uncle did." pouting a bit.

She smiled and said, "Then I will." Adding, "Remember Konohamaru, Naruto is working really hard to become the next Hokage, and a future Hokage has to learn to balance a lot of responsibilities."

She hugged him and assured, "Naruto really likes you and he misses you a lot when he's gone, but as the future Hokage, he can't slack off on missions."

Konohamaru asked, "Really?" staring up at her with hopeful eyes.

She smiled and said, "Yes really. Now why don't you go and find your teammates and see what your next mission is?"

Konohamaru smiled and said determinedly, "I'm going to be Hokage someday too, so I better start balancing things."

She chuckled and said, "You bet," smiling as he ran off to find his friends and began laughing again.

Naruto had stood there hidden from view watching the entire time and remembered how dark, cold, and lonely his own childhood had been.

Witnessing the misery in Konohamaru's voice and on his face had made Naruto's own past flash through his mind and had dimmed his mood a bit as the loneliness and pain had begun to wash over him again.

Naruto's whole body felt cold inside, and the smile had fallen from his face, as the memories played through his mind. The many times he'd watched other kids playing together, or worse, with their parents, while he'd been all alone without a single person in the world to hug him and make the loneliness lessen even just a fraction.

Those had been days filled with tears and confusion. They had been days filled with deep sorrow and anguish. Why couldn't he have parents to hold and comfort him? Why couldn't he have even a solitary friend who truly cared about him? He'd been shunned for something he didn't even have any control or choice about.

In fact, at that time he didn't even have any knowledge about it. He didn't know that he'd had a demon sealed inside his body and by his father no less. All he knew was that no one wanted to play with him. He was completely alone in the world, and everybody called him a monster.

Those had been long seemingly never ending days filled with heartache and utter misery.

When he'd heard Kagome remind Konohamaru that he wasn't alone, Naruto felt his heart rate quicken and had to smile. She was right; neither of them were alone anymore. Konohamaru had the entire village willing to look out for him, and Naruto had his many friends, and had even earned the respect of people like granny Tsunade- the Hokage herself.

Watching Kagome embrace the child and pull him out of that lonely corner, Naruto felt his heart swell with happiness and the warmth began to spread inside of him again, filling him with happiness once more.

As a child he's longed desperately for someone- anyone, to hold him and say stuff like that. He was glad that Konohamaru would never have to feel that deep abiding loneliness which he had grown up with.

'She really does care about everyone, no matter what kind of background they come from,' he thought impressed, also remembering the tales about the companion she'd first arrived with.

A mercenary was often branded an outcast by everyone as well, yet she had befriended that mercenary and they even had a brother/sister type relationship now. They had also shared stories about her hanyou friend Inuyasha, and how close she'd been to him. She's even told him about the demon fox kit Shippo and how he'd been like a son to her.

The more he learned about the priestess, the more impressed Naruto became. She was strong, beautiful, not afraid to stand up for herself or her friends, and she had a heart of gold. She was an unusual girl for sure, but he liked all of that about her.

--

Once Kagome had left the grave site, she'd walked along deep in thought and went to the cliff. Naruto had followed her, thinking about the many times he'd witnessed how big and loving her heart was since she and Bankotsu had first arrived.

One particular time touched him greatly… the time when he, Sakura and their new teammate, Sai had first found Sasuke.

His eyes filled with happiness and his heart rate increased as he remembered how she had actually shed tears for him. Naruto had never had anyone shed tears for him before that day, but on that day Kagome did.

Hearing the story behind Naruto and Sasuke's relationship, and witnessing how cruel and harsh Sasuke's words had been… Kagome had taken everyone by surprise running over to him, embracing him and shedding tears for him, because she'd been so moved by things, that she'd claimed she could even feel his pain.

It had taken him completely by surprise and had warmed his heart, touching him in such a profound way that no one else had ever been able to do. Since that day, he'd watched her when she was interacting with others from the village and had been astounded yet again by the kindness and genuine caring that she had shown everyone.

--

**Now:**

The breeze died down again and Naruto was startled out of his thought, by the sound of her sweet melodic voice.

"Naruto, I know you're there, so come on out and stop hiding."

He said, "Hey, Kagome," rubbing the back of his head, slightly embarrassed at having been caught spying on her, and gave her a goofy grin.

She giggled and said, "You don't have to hide, you know. Besides, I can sense auras, remember?"

He blushed slightly, and mumbled, "Oh yeah, I uh, kind of forgot about that." Her soft laughter filtered toward him, and he found himself blushing a bit more.

"I'm glad you're back safe." She said, bestowing him with her most charming smile as she slowly walked over to where he was standing.

Then she shocked him by wrapping her arms around his neck as she hugged him and said, "I missed you." kissing his jaw.

He stiffened a bit and the blush in his cheeks became even more apparent. As soon as she felt him stiffen, Kagome's eyes widened and she let go, spinning around to hide her own blush as she thought, 'Oh no, did I really just kiss him?'

She said softly, "Um… sorry about that." scuffing her feet on the ground as she became increasingly embarrassed.

Naruto's increased heartbeat had him feeling a bit dizzy at first, and then he noticed her embarrassment and said, "Uh hey, it's okay, really I don't mind." scratching the back of his head still slightly embarrassed himself.

Kagome asked, "So um, how did your mission go?" hoping to diffuse the awkward moment.

Naruto said, "It, um, went great." and then proceeded to recount the mission for her with excitement in his voice.

She smiled and listed as he told her all about Team Kakashi's latest mission and how much he'd enjoyed seeing his old teammates again.

Kagome watched the many different emotions play in through his captivating blue eyes as he recounted both the good and bad parts of the mission. She loved how easily his emotions showed and how outgoing he was.

Despite having a demon inside him, Naruto embraced life to the fullest everyday and started with a positively endearing, goofy grin. He was always cheering others up. It was one of the many reasons she loved being around him.

Even if he couldn't always find the words to cheer them up, all he had to do was be his normal, hyper, happy self, and they'd smile if not laugh with him. He always made her feel better too.

When he had finished talking about his mission, Naruto thought about how much he'd really missed her and wanted to spend more time basking in her presence.

He said, "So, how about we go and get some ramen?" hoping that she would say yes. Just being around her made everything so much better for him, and he wasn't ready to be away from her again yet.

Kagome had missed him too, so much that she'd been close to tears last night while lying in her bed staring at the picture they had taken a few months ago along with Bankotsu, Sakura, Sai, Yamato, and Kakashi.

She smiled and said, "Sure, but this time, you're paying for your own ramen." laughing at the pout on his face.

He grinned and said, "Okay, but only if I get to kiss you this time."

She blinked and then smiled, leaning towards him. He smirked and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer.

Their hearts pounded with excitement as his lips brushed against hers in a brief yet very thrilling kiss. It only lasted less than a minute, but both were extremely happy.

He pulled back and stared directly into her warm, chocolate eyes with a serious gaze and said, "I missed you too, Kagome." giving her his goofy grin.

She smiled and slipped her hand into his and they walked off towards the ramen shop together.

--

**A/N: Okay so there was my second Inuyasha/Naruto Shippuuden crossover one shot. This is a first time paring for me, so I hope it came out at least semi decent. **

**Next time I might even include a lemon. XD**


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